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Cabinet Restoration Advice

Wiredworm

Registered
10 Years
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
2,377
Location
Grimsby
Right, i'm almost at a point where I can finally strip down my R&B and do something about the cabinet.

The rear end has a large shark bite out of one corner and although Dan did his best to reinstate the rear of the cab (which I presume had rotted away) it's not quite how i'd like it to be.

Specifically I want to put the original rotolock mechanism back in place. This is partly just to be true to the original design, but also because the cabinet braid is meant to run up to the lower section of the lock. This is so that when the lock is engaged the circuit completes to the head unit and the whole lot is on the same earth braid.

I figured whilst i'm stripping the cabinet down I might as well go the whole hog so i'll also be fitting new glass tracks, new button house, new boris button, new flipper buttons (yellow to complement the red side rails). I'll also be fitting a cord cup and routing things correctly because right now the power cable comes out of a gap in the damaged wood near the head.

Ok, so what the hell am I posting in here for?

Well whilst i'm doing the work I think i'm going to fully strip the cabinet and sand it down inside using a random orbital sander. I was then considering spraying the insides. I've seen some of the work Manny has done to this effect and whilst I might not quite reach the level of 'bling' on his work I do think it looks nice so i'd like to have a crack myself.

Has anyone on here done this before? Any recommendations on which paints to use?

For now the only thing i'm going to leave alone is the exterior cabinet art. I still haven't figured out what i'm going to do with this but for now i'd like to get the woodwork sound and the massive gaping hole filled (fnarrrr). I'll take the artwork as a seperate issue at a later date.

So people. Be nice to hear feedback on this.
 
That JT, that's exactly what I was after. I'm probably going to do mine in vibrant red to keep in with the colourings of the game. Plus any screws or bolts dropped into the cabinet should be easier to see that way.

Next bit of advice.

I need a Random Orbital Sander to prepare the cabinet (and ultimately i'll need one anyway for when I try to get repro decals sorted on the exterior). Anyone got any recommendations on these?

Something like this do the job? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Watt-Random-Orbit-Sander/dp/B0002KHIN0/
 
I use a DeWalt which is great but was expensive. One piece of advice I can offer is to use Screwfixes replacement sand paper pads. They're not quite as good as the originals, but are so much cheaper they still make sense to use
 
I got my last lot from Ebay! 1/3rd of the price and whilst not quite as hard-wearing (as you say JT), still cheaper than the proper ones!
 
I got my last lot from Ebay! 1/3rd of the price and whilst not quite as hard-wearing (as you say JT), still cheaper than the proper ones!
Any chance you can post a link to the one you got please Paul?

I think Nedreud also grabbed one recently so i'm waiting to hear which one he grabbed.
 
Buy a quality one, it will outlast any cheap thing and do a better job of the sanding.
Go to the tool stores and power tool centres for sanding discs, a quality disc will last a lot longer than a cheaper one.
 
Thanks Paul. I'm looking at one with a very similar spec to that.

Understand what you're saying Daz but funds are a little tight right now so i'm trying to work to a bit of a budget. Fully agree but given this is going to get relatively light use i'd hazard a guess that something around the £40 mark should be fine for now. It's not like i'll be doing loads of Pins over the next year or two as I just don't have the space.
 
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